Roi Cooper Megrue (June 12, 1882 – February 27, 1927) was an American playwright, producer, and director active on Broadway from 1914 to 1921.
Biography
Roi Cooper Megrue was born on June 12, 1882, in New York City, the son of the son of Frank Newton Megrue, a stockbroker, and Stella Georgiana Cooper.
He attended Trinity School (New York City) and graduated (A.B.) in 1903 from Columbia University, where he engaged in college theatricals. He wrote the libretto for The Isle of Illusia, an all-male operetta that included a caricature of Clyde Fitch, of whom Megrue became a close friend.
At Columbia he met, and became a friend, of future Broadway actor Ralph Morgan.
Cooper worked with Elisabeth Marbury as a play broker before starting his career as playwright. He had a key role in the Dramatists Guild.
In 1917 he co-produced the first Pulitzer Prize-winner, Why Marry?. The 1921 play Honors Are Even is Megrue's final Broadway credit; the play was not well received by Dorothy Parker, who said it was sweet, clean, wholesome and... dull. His last work was the 1925 adaptation of Venice for Two from the French play by Sacha Guitry.
He never married and died on February 27, 1927, in New York City. According to the obituary on Variety, his "affectionate relationship with his mother was epic" and they shared an artistically furnished apartment. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) with his mother.
The Roi Cooper Megrue Scholarship is awarded annually to a self-supporting student in Columbia College who, in the opinion of the Trustees, merits the award because of qualities of industry, ambition and intelligence.
Career
The 1912 play White Magic was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and David Graham Phillips and produced Liebler & Co. It opened at the Criterion Theatre on 24 January 1912. It closed in February 1912 after 21 performances. It starred Florence Brian, Ruth Chester, Charles Dowd, Gertrude Elliott, Ben Johnson, George Le Guere, Julian L'Estrange, Suzanne Perry, Alexander Scott-Gatty, Suzanne Sheldon.
The 1912 play An Unlucky Star (1-act) was written by Roi Cooper Megrue.
The 1913 play The Neglected Lady was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and produced on Broadway.
The 1914 farce It Pays to Advertise was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett. It opened at the Cohan Theatre on 8 September 1914 and ran for nearly a year. It opened at the Bronx Opera House on 20 September 1915 produced by Cohan & Harris. The playwrights substantially rewrote the play for a new production in London by the actor-manager Tom Walls, at the Aldwych Theatre. It opened on 2 February 1924 and closed on 10 July 1925, a total of 598 performances. The 1919 (now lost) silent drama movie It Pays to Advertise was directed by Donald Crisp and written by Elmer Blaney Harris. The film stars Bryant Washburn, Lois Wilson, Frank Currier, Walter Hiers, Clarence Geldart, and Julia Faye. The film was released on November 23, 1919, by Paramount Pictures. It was remade in 1931 starring Norman Foster and Carole Lombard, and directed by Frank Tuttle.
The 1915 play Under Cover was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and produced by Selwyn & Co. It opened at the Cort Theatre on 26 August 1914 directed by Roi Cooper Megrue and closed in June 1915 after 349 performances. It starred Lily Cahill, William Courtenay, Harry Crosby, Wilfred Draycott, Lola Fisher, Phoebe Foster, DeWitt Jennings, John May, Ralph Morgan, Rae Selwyn, George Stevens, Lucile Watson, Jay Wilson. It opened at the Bronx Opera House on 27 September 1915. The 1916 (now lost) silent drama movie Under Cover was directed by Robert G. Vignola and written by Doty Hobart and Roi Cooper Megrue. The film stars Hazel Dawn, Owen Moore, William Courtleigh Jr., Ethel Fleming, Frank Losee, and Ida Darling. The film was released on July 20, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The 1915 play Abe and Mawruss (or Potash and Perlmutter in Society) was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and Montague Glass and produced by Albert H. Woods. It opened at the Lyric Theatre on 21 October 1915 and closed in April 1916.
The 1915 play Under Fire was written by Roi Cooper Megrue and produced by Selwyn & Co. It opened at the Hudson Theatre on 11 September 1915 co-directed by William Courtenay and Roi Cooper Megrue and closed in January 1916 after 129 performances. It starred Dorothy Abbott, Sydney Chon, William Courtenay, Frank Craven, Robert Fischer, Phoebe Foster, Violet Heming, Edward Hicks, Felix Krembs, Frank Morgan, McKay Morris, Edward G. Robinson, Malise Sheridan, Henry Stephenson, Norman Tharp, Harland Tucker, Jack Wessel.